Rapid characterization of telescopes and other optical instruments is essential for field deployable and fixed mounted instrumentation. Changes in the optical alignment of such systems from thermal changes, vibration and placement errors should be corrected before they can be used.
Interferometers are typically used to evaluate optical systems and rely oil interfering light from two sources—light from one source acts as a reference while light from another source carries information from optical components being tested. Such a technique provides a sensitive measure of the deviation from the reference wavefront.
An optical device (e.g., a telescope) includes two or more main elements (e.g., a primary mirror and a secondary mirror). When such an optical device is moved from one location to another, as such usually happens for expeditionary, amateur astronomical or for tactical imaging systems, the relative position of the optical elements may change. Such a change results in misalignments which in turn result into a poorer quality image. The amount of degradation introduced in the image is directly related to the misalignment of the two main elements of the optical device.
The sensitivity of interferometers can extend down to parts per thousand of the wavelength of the light used. Unfortunately, most interferometers are intricate and complex to set tip and use. Accordingly, one of the difficulties is for a user to diagnose and correct problems quickly and without being an expert optician. Various tools have been developed in the past to overcome the above-identified problems. However, such tools rely on equipment that is not that straightforward and simple to use, or is expensive to manufacture.
Accordingly, a need exists to overcome the above-identified problems.